Controlling for Competitiveness: Strategy Formulation and Implementation Through Management Control

Parment, Anders

Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Business.

Nilsson, Fredrik

Olve, Nils-Göran

2011 (English)Book (Other academic)

Abstract [en]

Strategies are important in today's highly competitive environments. Businesses as well as public sector organisations need a unifying logic, which emerges out of dialogues among its members and guides their actions. The organisation's Control System has potential to become a key to this, and itself a source of competitiveness. "Controlling for Competitiveness" describes how management control is crucial in mobilizing, using and communicating the knowledge and skills of managers and employees. Controllers should design situation-specific control systems, assuring that actions will be based on appropriate information and incentives. Enterprise Systems facilitate coordination and information exchange, thus enabling the development of a consistent and congruent strategy throughout the organisation. The involvement of all levels of management as well as most employees in this process creates motivation and commitment to the organisation's strategy. It also prepares for executing strategy through a creative use of metrics, decision tools and clarified responsibilities. The authors underline the need to understand management control as part of the organisation's control mix (control package). They provide numerous examples of how systems and people interact in shaping a strategic focus in private as well as publicly owned organisations. In addition to the authors' experiences from research and consultancy, the book is based on recent interviews with 16 leading, complex organisations in the private and public sector. Numerous examples from these and other organisations are provided.